New Delhi: The September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 are reportedly the deadliest terror attack the world has ever seen. Perpetrated by the terrorist outfit Al Qaeda, the attacks which are also known as 9/11 killed 2,977 people. Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda at that time, was the mastermind behind the attacks, helped by his trusted aides. One of them was Mohamed Atta, the militant who played an important role in executing the attacks.
9/11 attacks: Who was Mohamed Atta?
His full name was Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta. He was a terrorist and a member of Al Qaeda. Notably, he was the ringleader of the September 11 attacks. Also, he was the hijacker and also the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, the plane which he crashed into World Trade Center’s North Tower as part of the suicide attacks. Out of the 19 hijackers who took part in the mission, Atta was the oldest at 33 years.
From a student of architecture to a terrorist
Mohamed Atta was born in Egypt on September 1, 1968. He studied architecture at Cairo University and graduated in 1990. Later, he did his postgraduate at the Hamburg University of Technology and it was during his days in Hamburg that Atta became involved with the al-Quds Mosque. There he formed the Hamburg cell with others and then disappeared from Germany, going on Hajj in 1995. From late 1990 to early 2000, he also met Laden and other top leaders of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Later, Laden recruited him for a ‘plane operation’ in the US.
Training to become a pilot
In February 2000, Atta went back to Hamburg and started to explore flight training in the US. He went to the US with other accomplices in June for pilot training. From May 2001, he helped in the arrival of those hijackers who would keep the passengers quiet for the hijack to happen smoothly. In August, he travelled as a passenger on ‘surveillance’ flights to form the plans for the attacks.
The terrorist attack in the US
By September, Atta had become a skilled pilot and had a strong terror plan in place. On September 11, 2001, he and his team boarded American Airlines Flight 11 in the morning and later hijacked it. Atta became the pilot of the plane and crashed it into the World Trade Center’s North Tower. The crash led to the collapse of the tower and killed over 1,600 people. Atta died in the crash, but not before he had executed the deadliest air crash of all time and also the single deadliest terrorist attack in history.
Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda at that time, was the mastermind behind the attacks, helped by his trusted aides. One of them was Mohamed Atta, the militant who played an important role in executing the attacks. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
